Essay --

I was almost there, just one more turn and a road before I arrived home. When the road was built the turn cut a deep ‘V’ in the hillside, leaving behind prominent walls of dirt on either side of the road. It was a right-angle left turn leading up a steep incline. Being on a road less traveled, as well as being at the bottom of a hill, this particular turn had a lot of accumulated sand left over from the winter. I had forgotten about the sand, since all the main roads had long been washed clean, and went into the turn too fast. As soon as I hit the dirty portion of the road, my front wheels lost grip and caused the car to under-steer straight forward. I was able to catch it a little but knew impact was inevitable. I watched the hillside jump up in front of me and the right corner of my Jeep Cherokee plow into it, as a mountain of new obstacles rose up in my mind. I thought it would be too hard for me to fix it myself and too expensive to have done at a shop. I w as worried about what my parents would say if they saw it. But by the time it was fixed, I had learned a lot about car repair and my own capabilities. Before I crashed I didn’t think I could perform any major car repairs myself, but I learned that it’s not only feasible but quite rewarding as well. I drove the rest of the way home in a calm panic, trying to think straight and form a plan. I pulled my car into the garage nose first, at such an angle that the damage couldn’t be seen from the house if anyone happened to look out and wonder what I was doing. I had an excuse of TLC ready in case someone decided to investigate further than the front window. This was when I did an in-depth inspection of the damage, and it looked bad, really bad. The steel bumper wa... ...f. I fixed up my car on a budget, kept my parents from blowing a head gasket, and picked up multitudes of knowledge along the way. During the course of the project I absorbed copious amounts of information that I will be able to use the rest of my life. I learned many skills and techniques regarding vehicle repair that I can apply to any situation that may arise in the future. Since then, I don’t even know how much money I’ve saved myself, family, and friends by diagnosing and repairing problems in house instead of getting ripped off by mechanics. Before I crashed my car I was limited to doing very basic maintenance only, but after, I felt like I could take on any project. It really sparked my interest in working on my own car. The whole experience was very rewarding and taught me a lot about not only cars but what I was capable of when I put my mind to it.